Who should we make the check out to?

Talk about favorable media coverage. CNBC aired a one-hour special last week called “Target: Inside the Bullseye,” that served as more of a glowing endorsement of the company than the probing documentary implied by the title.

During the show, which aired on Jan. 13 and 15, there was no mention of the percentage of products the company imports from China, the wages it pays store employees or its opposition to unions. Target was given a pass on these issues in a way that Walmart can only dream about. Instead, the show was so overtly favorable to Target it seemed at times as if the viewer was watching a well done orientation film created to show newly hired team members during their onboarding process.

That the piece was on the soft side was a little surprising given that CNBC is a financial news network and its anchors routinely badger some of the biggest names in business and government. “Inside the Bullseye” implied a true behind the scenes look at one of America’s top retailers, and it fell well short of that goal.